It's easy to forget that Princess Bubblegum is about as old as Ooo itself, and these occasional episodes that fill in her backstory are always welcome.
I do wonder how she got her name though. Did she name herself, or did the "mother gum" do it?
Good origin for some of the candy helpers we've seen since the start of the series, and it really plays into her original characterization as a paranoid ruler with a bit of narcissism (perhaps that stems from these events? I'd imagine it'd be a bit traumatizing to have your own creations turn against you).
Honestly, the main flaw Is Gumbald having no set up due to how short the last 2 seasons are. He just kinda shows up, randomly becomes evil after being created, and that's it.
Granted, the Lich does have a similar setup - but it works better due to the time it was given (and it wasn't done after the Lich had been introduced).
But, the pun in the cousin's name adds at least half a star (if you don't know, his name is a pun on "chicle" - which is a type of sap used to make gum. I think it's not used that much anymore though).
Gumbald just isn’t that good of a villain. There’s no real reason or arc to him, he’s just like that, and not in a Lich force of nature way
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParent2017-12-02T03:05:41Z
[7.6/10] Whoa, there’s a lot to unpack here. I’ll start out with a criticism, which is that this one gets a little too continuity-heavy at times. I don’t know that we needed that much giving us the origin of the pinata or the cabin or even dear Neddie.
But I like the general idea of this backstory and continuity-filled episode, that basically gives us the origin of the Candy Kingdom. P.B. initially wanted to make equals, people who were like her that she should relate to, but then she saw how real people saw her, and plotted against her, and how much easier the nice but pliable candy people were, and rarely, if ever, tried to make people who were that challenging ever again. It’s a little too simplistic as backstory, but it’s interesting backstory nonetheless, and the implication that she made Uncle Gumbald and the others because she was yearning for family, only to get this type of family, is a really interesting narrative choice to help explain PB’s perspective.
Overall, it’s not necessarily as touching as some of the other gap-filling episodes are, but it still packs a certain punch and has interesting notions behind it, even if it gets a little too cute in its “this is how ___ started!” mentality.